As we walked along the
beach front in Karon, a couple riding a motorcycle stopped to talk. She, the
passenger, was a blonde with a British accent; he, the driver, was Thai. Hi how
are you? Where are you from? she asked. No time share, I responded. Oh no, this
is not a time share, but there is a presentation we would like you to go to.
After a little more discussion, we learned that the two of them made a
commission on each couple they delivered to the presentation centre. We talked
a bit longer, assured them that we weren’t interested, and asked their advice
on what cell phone we should buy – a model that offered inexpensive calls to
North America. They suggested Nokia as well as a good place to buy one in
Patong beach. They tried once more to get us to accept the offer, we refused and
off they went.
Or more interesting, you might want to look at some of the complaints:
Absolute Vacation Club.
Club Absolute New Lambton
The next day, we saw
them again. They stopped to chat and asked if we had bought our phone. No we
hadn’t. Well then, Kellie suggested, if you go to the presentation, we will buy
one for you. We took the bribe. Business must be slow for them! They get 3000B
(~$100) for each couple they deliver to a presentation; the Nokia telephone
costs 800B (~$26) including 100B of “minutes.”
Our part of the deal
included a taxi to and from Patong Beach, a soft drink and a 3hr session with a
salesman that included his talk, a viewing of a 5 star hotel, a software
demonstration that calculated how much we would save, and finally the pricing. Despite
the non-stop talking, we were able to resist. But then it was fairly easy to say no since we were never really sure, even after 3hr, what we were or weren't buying! We said our farewells, got a free
tee shirt, and went back to our quiet hotel room with our phone.
Here is the related site: Absolute Vacation Club. Perhaps you can figure out what they are selling and what the true terms, conditions, and fees really are.
Or more interesting, you might want to look at some of the complaints:
Absolute Vacation Club.
Club Absolute New Lambton
In the end, we weren’t
sure the phone was worth the time we had to invest! But yes, the phone works. In
fact, it works very well. Given the cost, it has an amazing array of functions:
clock, alarm, calculator, calendar, contact list, etc. But most importantly, we
can call North America for 1.5B/min regular service or 3B/min for higher quality
line, that is $1 for 10 min. Perhaps we are entering the 21st century after all.
Pictures of our touts unavailable due to security reasons, ;)
Pictures of our touts unavailable due to security reasons, ;)